The invention relates to a grip control for a handle for unlocking vehicle doors, which handle in a rest position can be retracted flush with an outer contour in a recess of the vehicle door, and can be moved in a controlled manner out of the recess by means of a control mechanism into a ready position for opening the vehicle door, and can subsequently be pivoted out further counter to a spring force with actuation of a lock unlocking device.
A known grip control, as described in German Patent Specification 3,403,003, makes it possible to retract a handle of a motor vehicle door in a controlled manner into a rest position inside a door plane, and to move it out of this position into a ready position, ready to be gripped, outside the outer contour of the door. To this end, the handle is pivoted at one side about a bearing bolt in such a way that an open space is produced relative to the door at the opposite end of the handle, which open space enables the handle to be gripped. The handle can be pivoted further outwards from this ready position, a lock release lever being actuated which unlocks a door lock. A pivoting out of a handle from the door recess on only one side requires, however, a large-angle pivoting movement about the bearing bolt since an access area for a hand must be provided which is as wide as possible. As a result, the guides for the handle also project a long way in the transverse direction inside the door, which hinders the accommodation of further units in the door. However, if these extended dimensions of the handle cannot be realized inside the door, then the recess must be widened in such a way that a hand gripping the handle still has enough room in the recess, as a result of which, however, it is no longer possible to provide a dirt-free arrangement.
A handle for unlocking a vehicle door is described in European Patent Specification 0,072,537 which, in a rest position, lies flush with an outer contour, retracted in a recess of the vehicle door, and can be pivoted in this position about a longitudinal axis of the grip. It can be pivoted out further from this position counter to a spring force with actuation of a lock unlocking device. A controlled movement of the handle out of the recess into a ready position is not provided here.
An object of the invention is to provide a handle of the above-noted generic type with a grip control, by means of which this device can be retracted into a door, with good operability of the handle with a small installation depth.
This object is achieved according to the invention by providing an arrangement wherein the grip control comprises two pivot levers which are respectively articulated at one side at fixed positions at the door, and on the other side are connected in an articulated manner to the handle, said pivot levers including means to displace the handle into a ready position parallel with the outer contour of the door when they are pivoted in a controlled manner, said pivot levers further including means permitting an additional pivoting-out movement of an articulated handle side counter to the force of a spring from said ready position.
The displacement of the handle at both sides and a ready position parallel with the outer contour of the door enable a hand to engage a long way behind the moved-out handle without there being any need for the guides for the handle to extend a very long way inside the door because of the short displacement travel.
At the same time, it is also not necessary to provide a recess behind the handle for the hand, so that in this design technical advantages in terms of accommodating pulling of the handle also result from a recess with only a small depth.
The grip control can be realized in such a way that, in the event of the displacement of the handle from its recessed rest position into the ready position outside the outer contour of the door, the lock unlocking device of the vehicle door is not yet actuated, and the unlocking mechanism permits this displacement of the handle, while the lock unlocking device is subsequently to be released by the handle.
By connecting the pivot levers to each other and to a conventional control mechanism via a coupling rod, a wide variety of possibilities are provided for effecting inward and outward movement of the handle. Since the recess in the door can be matched in terms of its depth and contour to the dimensions of the handle, the recess and the sides of the handle can be kept free of dirt by the retracting of the handle.